Welcome

I am a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My core research area focuses on how local community structures interact with race and class to reproduce material inequality and segregation. My broad areas of interest include:

  • Urban sociology
  • Geo-spatial analysis
  • Critical race theory
  • Mixed methods
  • Policy analysis

Please click here to view my CV, and here to see more detail on my current research.


Current Research

How does neighborhood change impact access to resources? My current dissertation research uses a multi-method approach to examine how local organizational density and population composition affect individual access to resources and neighborhood space. I  use a combination of interviews, individual daily-travel data collected from a GPS application, and geo-located organizational data to explore this question in four adjacent neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York that have undergone varying levels of demographic change between 2004 and 2014. My work is funded through a National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant as well as funding from UW-Madison's Department of Community and Environmental Sociology. For details on my dissertation and current projects, click here.  

Research Interest and Training

My research goal is to use multiple complementary methods to focus on how one's geographic place and position in society impact inequality of experience. I have been able to develop this interest through a minor in Geo-Information Systems and human geography, which involved training in geo-programming and place-based analysis (using ArcGIS and python). I received training in qualitative software (Nvivo ) and qualitative data analysis through the Social Science Computing Cooperative at UW-Madison.

Past Research and Work Experience

Prior to entering UW-Madison for graduate school, my academic and professional work focused on public policy and program analysis.  

As an undergraduate in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, I focused on urban policy. My thesis analyzed the effect of the Favela Bairro program, a land tenure program in Rio de Janeiro, on access to credit and political participation. 

I then worked for a non-profit organization in Managua, Nicaragua, analyzing the effectiveness of organizational programs on educational and health outcomes. After this, I took a position with the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City, working on promoting sustainable transportation and improving global health initiatives.